Metalflake Paint

The XPAK 400, a Barris Kustoms built air car, made it's debut at the 1959 New York World's Fair featuring 35 coats of Metalflake paint by the Bobeckmun Company, a Division of the Dow Chemical Company. The particles were precision cut, coated aluminum foil that gave a metallic finish, and it was supposedly the first time the product was available for commercial use. A trial was offered to George Barris for the XPAK 400 since it was going to be displayed at the National Car Show in Detroit.

Dick Scritchfield's 1932 Ford roadster is known as the first car to receive a Metalflake paint job. Dick painted the car at a friends body shop in Eagle Rock, California, toward the end of 1960.

Ed Pogue's 1953 Ford was restyled by Darry Starbird at Star Kustom Shop in the early 1960s. Named The Glitra, it featured canted quad headlights and a sparking Metalflake paint job.

Jim and George Bernardo's 1957 Plymouth convertible of Milford, Connecticut. Jim and George ran Bernardo Auto Body in Milford. Their Plymouth was completed early in 1961, featuring a Silver Metalflake paint job. The car made its debut at the 1961 Hartford Autorama in February.

An ad for Bernardo Auto Body from the 1961 Hartford Autorama Souvenir Pictorial. The Milford, Connecticut custom body shop advertised themselves as specialist in unique finishes such as Metallic, Candy, Pearl and Metalflake.

An ad for Metalflake from the 1961 Hartford Autorama Souvenir Pictorial. The new custom paint was sold and advertised by Daniel P. Falvey of Haverhill, Massachusetts.

The introduction of Metalflake was a cover story in Hot Rod Magazine February 1961. The story featured Dick Scritchfield's 1932 Ford roadster.

An assorted pack of 6 1 ounce Metalflake bottles from Custom Shop. The pack contains their most popular colors. Click here to check price and availability on Amazon.com.

In 1961 George Cerny gave Tom McMullen's 1932 Ford roadster a metalflake paint job. George used large flakes and had trouble getting the clear deep enough to cover the flake, so it didn't come out well according to Dick Scritchfield. It was fellow L.A. Roadsters smember and Hot Rod Magazine staffer Tex Smith who persuaded Tom to paint his roadster in metalflake. Photo by ANdy Southard, Jr., courtesy of Street Rodder Magazine.

Circa 1961-62, we find the X-Sonic fresh from Larry Watson's paint booth, boasting a groundbreaking Gold Metalflake finish. Before the buffing that would reveal its depth, the car's raw sparkle hinted at the masterpiece it would become. "Once buffed, the flake looked like it was a mile deep in clear," Ron reminisced. Photo from The Ron Aguirre Photo Collection.

George Barris' 1927 Ford Model T Roadster, the Twister T, was shown at the 1962 Grand National Roadster Show featuring a greem Metalflake paint job. George won the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award at the show with the car.]

Gary Heliker's 1926 Ford Model-T roadster of Lawndale, California. Gary's roadster was supposedly raced as a modified at the dry lakes in the 1940s. This is how it appeared in 1962. By then it had received a Kandy Burgundy Metalflake.

Art Lehner's 1932 Ford 3-Window Coupe of South Gate, California. Art ran Art Chrome Body Shop in South Gate, and most of the work on the car was performed there. The build was started in 1961, and completed sometime around 1961-1962. Known as "The Blue Indigo," it is believed that Art built the car from the remains of Walt Banker's 1932 Ford 3-Window Coupe. The build featured a Blue Indigo Metalflake paint job by Art's son Bud.

Ron Volpe's 1957 Ford Convertible of La Salle, Illinois. Ron was a member of the Illinois Valley Mis-Fires. Between the years 1960 and 1963 he took the car through five different stages. This photo shows a mild iteration of the car as it appeared circa 1961. This iteration featured Metalflaked wheels with Cal Custom spider caps.

Deaner Probst's 1933 Ford Cabriolet of Jefferson, Wisconsin. Known as "Lil' Dough," Probst dragged the car home as a project in 1957. He spent the next years working on it while showing it at various shows. In 1962 he debuted a Metalflake red iteration of the car.

Kalle Jonasson's 1939 Mercury Convertible of Costa Mesa, California. Originally restyled in the 1940s or the 1950s. An earlier iteration of Kalle's Mercury was supposedly spotted in Lynwood, California in 1958. By 1963, it had been repainted in Green Metalflake, and an old photo shows it sitting at a car dealership in San Diego. Kalle bought the car in May of 1978 and spent two years restoring it, giving it his own look.

Roy Abendroth's 1955 Buick Century of Compton, California. Known as the "BuSonic," the build was started in 1959 and completed in 1963. It featured bodywork by John Schott and Copper Metalflake paint job by Larry Watson of Watson's House of Style. It was also fitted with hydraulic lifts.

Bob Nordskog's 1963 Chevrolet Corvette, The Asteroid, was restyled by Barris Kustoms in 1963 featuring a Copper Metalflake paint job.

Lars Erik Ljungkvist's 1932 Ford Roadster, of Huddinge in Stockholm, Sweden, was completed in 1963. In 1964 the roadster was repainted Marigold Metalflake.

Bengt Wennergren's 1949 Ford of Enskedefältet in Stockholm, Sweden. When Bengt bought the Ford, the rear end was already restyled by Leif "Grillkorven" Rose. The build was completed in 1963 featuring a Blue Metalflake paint job.

In 1964 Junior Conway painted the first version of Steve Scott's Uncertain-T in a gorgeous Metalflake tangerine Orange at his shop Junior's House of Color. Copyright Steve Scott.

John Caldwell's 1932 Ford Four-Door Sedan of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Being an early member of the Road Knights of Sydney car club, Caldwell bought the 32 late in 1964. Shortly after buying it, he gave it a Metalflake paint job. One of the first Metalflake paint jobs in the area.

The Reactor is an aluminum show-car built by Gene Winfield of Winfield's Custom Shop in 1965. The first version of the Reactor was painted in a green and gold Metalflake.

Bo Sandberg's 1923 Ford Model T Roadster, Purple Passion, of Stockholm, Sweden. The build was completed around 1965 featuring a Burgundy Candy paint over silver Metalflake.

John Viggianelli's 1963 Ford Galaxie of Pacoima, California. Viggianelli's Galaxie was mildly restyled before it around 1965 received a Candy Ruby over Pearl Silver, Red, and Maroon Metalflake custom paint job by Larry Watson at Watson's House of Style. After the car had been painted, a Mexican gentleman in Glendale installed hydraulic lifts up front.

Howard Gribble's 1961 Ford Starliner of Torrance, California was restyled by Carl Darling and Howard Gribble. The build was completed early in 1966 a green metalflake paint job

John Toohey's Royal-T Ford Model T C Cab of Eugene, Oregon. Built by John, the build was completed in 1966. It featured a green Metalflake paint job by Fred Toohey.

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Bo Sandberg's Cool Cat. The Cool Cat was a customized Jaguar E-Type built by Bo Sandberg of of Yanke Customs in Älvesjö, Stockholm, Sweden. The build was completed in 1967, featuring a a red and pink Metalflake paint job.

Jim Robertson's 1961 Ford of Simi Valley, California was originally restyled in 1969. In 1970 it received a panel paint job by the Animal of Canoga Park. The top on this version featured multicolored Metalflake.

Joe and Jerry Valdez's 1921 Ford Model T Roadster of Oakland, California. Joe and Jerry purchased the car as a race car in the 1950s. They took it apart and turned it into a show car. By 1974 the car had received a Blue and Silver faded Metalflake paintjob by Al Fettke.

Henrik Forss' Bucket T of Stockholm, Sweden. The second version of Henrik's T Bucket, featuring a Gold metalflake paint job, was completed late in 2001.

Dennis McPhail's 1960 Ford Fairlane of Wellington, Kansas. Restyled by Hooligan Hot Rods and Jeff Myers the build was completed in 2010. The top and dashboard was painted in Metalflake.

Tom Røine's 1963 Buick of Oslo, Norway. Tom is a member of the Coupe Devils car club, and his Buick received a gold metalflake paint job in May of 2014.

Adam Woodhams' 1959 Buick LeSabre of San Jose, California. The build, known as "the Lone Wolf", was completed in 2015, featuring a metalflake paint job by Gargeworks.

Josie Celeste's 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air of Oakland, California. Named "Angel Lust," the panel painted and Metalflaked version of Josie's Chevrolet was completed in 2016.

Colin Hillier-Daines' Agent Thor of Weston-Super-Mare, UK. Built as a tribute to Ed Roth's Road Agent, the name Thor is an anagram of Roth. The build was started on the 18th of March 2018 and completed on the 18th of June 2019. Colin painted the car with Ruined Retina Red Metalflake by Lil Daddy Roth Flake.

Ruined Retina Red by Lil Daddy Roth Flake. A true 1960s show car was often painted with metalflake. There are a huge variety of colors and flake size to choose between to get your wild ride just as sparkly and shiny as you want. Click here to check price, color and availability on Amazon.com.

Marco Hämäläinen's 1975 Saab 96 of Orimattila, Finland. Known as the "WaSaabi," the bubble topped show car was a father and son project that got out of hand. The build was completed in the spring of 2021, featuring a sparkling green Metalflake paint job.

Dave and Sue Wright's 1959 Chevrolet Brookwood Station Wagon of Poole, United Kingdom. Known as "The Headhunter," Dave and Sue found the car at the Pomona Swapmeet in 2001. It underwent a transformative journey, starting with a green paint and a Metalflake roof. It later received an Air Ride kit and a striking panel paint job by Stylecraft Coachworks. The build was completed in 2023.

Grant Purple Metalflake 15 Inch Steering Wheel - Click here to check price and availability on Amazon.com.

Speedway Motors has a range of 13 inch Metalflake Steering Wheels for sale. Click here for price, colors and availability on Amazon.com.

Metalflake paint, also known as metallic paint or metal flake, is a type of automotive paint that contains small metallic particles, or flakes, suspended in the paint. These flakes reflect light, giving the paint a shimmering, sparkling effect. Metalflake paint is commonly used on custom cars, motorcycles, bicycles, and boats, as well as on various consumer products such as musical instruments and home appliances.

History

The use of metallic particles in paint can be traced back to ancient civilizations. Egyptians used powdered metals such as gold and silver to create brilliant, reflective surfaces on their artifacts. The modern metalflake paint was developed in the late 1950s. In 1959 Barris Kustoms debuted their futuristic air car, the XPAK 400 at the New York World's Fair. The XPAK 400 featured 35 coats of nitro cellulose lacquer, that according to a press release by Barris Kustoms, contained a million particles of chromed aluminum called "Metalflake". The press release could further state, that Metalflake was a revolutionary new development by the Bobeckmun Company, a Division of the Dow Chemical Company. The particles were precision cut, coated aluminum foil that gave a metallic finish, and it was supposedly the first time the product was available for commercial use. A trial was offered to George Barris for the XPAK 400 since it was going to be displayed at the National Car Show in Detroit. George used plain silver flake for the body. The overall reflection quality of the flake was softened by the addition of a small amount of pearl. "George’s early experience with the flake proved that it would be a wild wild finish, subtle and velvet soft in the indirect lighting, yet extremely lively where the strong light is directed". The fins featured 30 coats of imported Swedish pearl of essence which was made of crushed fish scales and crushed diamond dust. It was also painted in Kandy translucent red, white and blue.

Dick Scritchfield's 1932 Ford Roadster

Dick Scritchfield's 1932 Ford roadster is known as the first car to ever receive a Metalflake paint job. Dick painted the car at a friends body shop in Eagle Rock, California toward the end of 1960. He used two toners to arrive at the exact color he wanted. Rather than using gold Metalflake as base for the Candy Apple Red, Dick used silver Metalflake, with the final color coming closer to magenta or cherry red. After Dick had painted the car, his buddy Tex Smith thought it would be a good idea to drive it down to Dean Jeffries for a photo shoot. The Metalflaked version of Dick's roadster, that Tex shot, was featured in Hot Rod Magazine February 1961 in a cover story about Metalflake paint. As the photo shoot was done at Jeffries' shop, many thought it was Jeffries that applied the Metalflake on the car. The article did also discuss that an "older car was painted at Dean Jeffries", which made it sound like it was Dick's roadster. In 2013 Dick told Kustomrama that "Dean was a great guy, and he could have painted it, but he didn't. It was at a time where I was learning and doing most of the work myself, since money was tight in those days." The older car mentioned in the story was actually Tex Smith's Buick, not Dick's roadster. The Buick paint did not make it to "show" or even "street" quality, and Dick can't remember how Tex got rid of it. Dick always enjoyed Tex's saying that the roadster looked "quite distinctive on Hollywood Boulevard." According to himself, "it was really bad (and I don't mean good) by today's meaning. Barris' came out much better. The large flakes were a bit "gaudy" for my tastes, so I opted for the smaller, less intrusive which the Bobeckmun Company provided. They were the original manufacturers and gave me pointers on spraying the flake. All the details were in the magazine article. With the new gravity feed guns, it would be much easier to apply. It really takes lots of clear coats, especially if using the large flake."

Types of Metallic Flakes

There are various types of metallic flakes used in metalflake paint, including aluminum, mica, and glass. Aluminum flakes are the most common, as they are lightweight and highly reflective. Mica flakes offer a more subtle shimmer and are often used in pearlescent and color-shifting paints. Glass flakes, on the other hand, create a more prismatic effect and are used in paints that require a higher degree of durability.

Application

Applying metalflake paint requires skill and patience, as the flakes need to be distributed evenly across the surface to achieve a consistent, uniform appearance. The process usually involves applying a base coat of solid color paint, followed by a coat of clear paint mixed with the metallic flakes. Finally, several layers of clear coat are applied to protect the finish and enhance the depth and shine of the paint.

Challenges

One of the main challenges of working with metalflake paint is achieving a consistent distribution of the flakes. Uneven distribution can result in a patchy appearance, with some areas having a higher concentration of flakes than others. Additionally, metalflake paint is more susceptible to UV damage and oxidation than non-metallic paint, making it essential to apply a UV-resistant clear coat to protect the finish.

Metalflaked Cars

Steve Scott's Uncertain-T
Joe and Jerry Valdez's 1921 Ford Model T Roadster
Bo Sandberg's 1923 Ford Model T Roadster - Purple Passion
John Toohey's Royal-T Ford Model T C Cab
Gary Heliker's 1926 Ford Model-T Roadster
George Barris' 1927 Ford Model T Roadster - The Twister T
Henrik Forss' Bucket T
Art Lehner's 1932 Ford 3-Window Coupe - The Blue Indigo
John Caldwell's 1932 Ford Four-Door Sedan
Lars Erik Ljungkvist's 1932 Ford Roadster
Deaner Probst's 1933 Ford Cabriolet - Lil' Dough
Bengt Wennergren's 1949 Ford
Ed Pogue's 1953 Ford Hardtop - The Glitra
Roy Abendroth's 1955 Buick Century - The BuSonic
Josie Celeste's 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air - Angel Lust
Jim and George Bernardo's 1957 Plymouth Convertible
Adam Woodhams' 1959 Buick LeSabre - The Lone Wolf
Dave and Sue Wright's 1959 Chevrolet Brookwood Station Wagon - The Headhunter
Bill Leslie's 1960 Ford Thunderbird - The Golden Gem
Dennis McPhail's 1960 Ford Fairlane
Howard Gribble's 1961 Ford Starliner
Jim Robertson's 1961 Ford
Tom Røine's 1963 Buick
Bob Nordskog's 1963 Chevrolet Corvette - The Asteroid
John Viggianelli's 1963 Ford Galaxie
Marco Hämäläinen's 1975 Saab 96 - WaSaabi
Bo Sandberg's Cool Cat
Colin Hillier-Daines' Agent Thor
The Reactor
The XPAK 400